


the other side

by sheskyripa



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Childhood Friends, Fae & Fairies, Fairy Powers, Friends to Lovers, Librarians, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-27
Updated: 2021-01-27
Packaged: 2021-03-13 05:41:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29023629
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sheskyripa/pseuds/sheskyripa
Summary: Andrew was seven when he went to the Library for the first time.  He just didn't expect to find out that he's part fairy after accidentally going through a wall.
Relationships: Aaron Minyard & Andrew Minyard, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard, Nicky Hemmick & Aaron Minyard & Andrew Minyard
Comments: 2
Kudos: 31





	the other side

**Author's Note:**

> First of all, this was supposed to be just a small fanfic, but it got out of control and I decided (with the help of a Twitter vote because I'm undecided) to split it into two parts. The second shouldn't take long. 
> 
> Second, the idea of the library with a magic wall comes from the nickelodeon series (I think) called 'the boreau of magical things' but there's not much to do with the series besides that. 
> 
> I hope you like it :)

Andrew was seven when he went to the Library for the first time. 

He was on a class tour, a rare event that he only participated in because the school financed the short trip to the place. 

He didn't have many friends at that school, but there was a girl called Jenna who he sat by during the break, and they ate their sandwiches together (sometimes, when the couple from the house he was in for those six months didn't care enough to prepare something for him, she shared her sandwich with him) or they talked about books. Jenna had a large library at home, because her father was a literature teacher and writer, and she always brought some with her to school and they read it after they ate their snacks. 

On the day of the tour, Jenna dragged him by the hand to the children's literature section and pointed out some books to Andrew. Andrew had no way to pay for them and he told her so, but Jenna smiled, pinched Andrew on the nose and said he could just borrow it and then return it. That's how Andrew started going to the library on a daily basis. He walked from school to there and read for a few hours before returning to Johnson's home, hoping that Jesse wasn't home from work yet, getting pissed when he realized Andrew wasn't home when he should have been. It hurt when Jesse got pissed. 

Andrew should not have discovered the  _ other side _ of the library, according to Mr. Dobb, the librarian. ' _ Humans can't get through the wall,'  _ he said to a British woman, who was looking at Andrew as if he had personally offended her. Andrew walked away from the two when they got into a discussion of what was possible and was not possible, amazed at the extensive shelves full of books in the many hallways, when he bumped into something. 

Not something. Someone. 

The other boy, who looked to be Andrew's age, looked at him in fright for a few seconds before laughing. He looked at the boy for a few moments, trying to find out what the boy was laughing at before shrugging and getting up. The boy - who he would later discover was called Nathaniel, but who did not like to be called that - reached out and introduced himself as Neil. 

Andrew accepted his hand, swinging it up and down together a few times in a very serious greeting, in Andrew's opinion. Then, still holding hands, Neil started pulling Andrew through the corridors until the game became an improvised pick-up. 

Mister Dobb and the woman (Mary, Neil’ mother) found them later, having come to the conclusion that Andrew must be part fairy, which was why he was able to cross the wall, so Mister Dobb let him visit  _ the other side  _ of the library whenever he wanted, with the promise that he would never tell anyone about it.

Andrew agreed, of course. Nobody would believe it if he did anyway. 

In the following days, instead of being alone in a corner reading until to come home, Andrew went through the wall and he and Neil sat together in a corner among the many corridors and read and talked and became best friends. 

And then Andrew discovered he would be relocated. Andrew had cried softly on Neil's shoulder, not wanting to leave the library behind. Neither leave Neil. Or Mr. Dobb. He didn't want to go. 

" _ You don't have to cry,"  _ Neil had said, holding Andrew's hand as he cried. “ _ The  _ other side _ is everywhere. You don't have to say goodbye.”  _

_ "And how am I going to find it again?" _

_ “I can get you there. Take this, it's my birth necklace. ”  _ Neil moved away just far enough that he could take the string around his neck, the one that had a red stone as a pendant. _ "Keep it with you and I will be able to locate you in any corner of the world and show you the new portal."  _

And so it was. Whenever Andrew was relocated, Neil would show up a few days later to take him to the local library that had a passageway to  _ the other side. _

Neil's mother Mary did not like the idea of Neil going out into the human world just to get him, but Neil was sneaky and managed to get out every time.

Until one day Mary spotted him leaving and ran after him. But in what Neil was sneaky, Mary was flashy, especially with her temper burning as it was. Neil had said that they were hiding in the fairy world because humans could not enter and Neil's father was human and evil and wanted to kill them. 

With Mary practically crazy after Neil, his father caught her. Neil and Andrew managed to hide, but watched as Nathan dragged Mary away from the curious eyes that passed through the park to a place where he would not be seen murdering the woman. Andrew was fourteen at the time, and Neil was thirteen. Andrew was the only thing that could have prevented Neil from going after his mother and ending up dead too. Or worse. 

This time, it was Neil's turn to cry on Andrew's shoulder after they went back to the  _ other side _ and told Mr. Dobb everything. 

" _ Sorry,"  _ Andrew said to Neil. " _ It's my fault." _

_ "It is not. Mom shouldn't have left the way she did. ”  _

_ "She wouldn't have left if you hadn't left."  _

_ “My gift is to be sneaky, I wouldn't be caught. Mom should have trusted me, but she never trusted me. ”  _ Neil now looked more upset than sad.

After Neil calmed down, Mr Dobb brought them two milkshakes and Andrew asked his friend, " _ Do you think I have a gift?"  _

_ “It is likely. Every fairy and half fairy has one. ”  _

_ "What do you think it is?"  _

_ "Do not know. We can ask Mr. Dobb to help us find out. ”  _

In the end, Andrew's talent was charm. Andrew didn't know what that meant until Neil said that Andrew was able to make people do what he wanted. Later that day, it was useful. It would have been useful in the past as well, but Andrew hadn’t known he was half-fairy and that he had a gift, but that's okay. Better late than never, that's what Neil told him when Andrew told him what happened.

Andrew couldn't say that he liked living with the Spears. Not with him having to constantly use his charm to stop Drake. Neil did not tell him that it would cause physical wear and tear, but it did. He felt tired and sleepy most of the next day and would only pass when Mr. Dobb gave him a kind of shake and told him to slow down with the gift. Andrew wanted to. 

One day, Andrew crossed the wall, put his hands on his waist and said to Neil, "I have a twin." 

Everything changed from there. But not exactly. 

* 

If Andrew didn't know if he liked living with the Spears, he  _ definitely  _ didn't like living at Tilda Minyard's house. 

She was grumpy, thick and most days, an abuser. Andrew caught her more than once trying to disguise her abuse, but he saw the handprints around Aaron’s wrists and the half moon marks left on his forearms when she grabbed him tightly. 

Not to mention the way she looked at Andrew. 

"You can use your charm to make it stop," Neil said, sitting between Andrew's legs while Andrew braided Neil's long red hair. They were in the city library, not on the  _ other side _ as they used to be, because Mr. Dobb asked them to take care of the store while he left. Andrew told Tilda that he got a part-time job there to justify the amount of time he spent away from home. 

"I’ll tell her to stop and if she doesn't hear me without the charm, I’ll use it." 

"Are you going to tell Aaron about your fairy heritage?" 

Andrew knitted his eyebrows and paused in his work of braiding Neil's hair, which caused the boy between his legs to turn his head to look at him. Andrew swore, "Don't move, you're going to mess everything up, you idiot." 

Neil snorted, but returned to position. 

“I don't know if he would believe me. In fact, most of the time he seems to hate me. ” 

"No decent person would dare to hate you." 

Andrew snorted. 

"I'm not  _ like that _ when I'm out of here, Neil." 

Neil shrugged. Neil was well aware of what Andrew looked like when he was with someone he didn't know enough to let himself know. That is, everyone.

Neil said nothing more while waiting for Andrew to finish his braid. Then he got up, stretched his spine and said, “I spoke to my uncle. He said he was going to take care of my father. ” 

Andrew raised an eyebrow. "Your uncle who is basically a Duke in the fairy world and that your mother practically begged you not to contact?" Neil smiled, the little devil. "Why?"

"Well, because as much as I love this place," he spread his arms and turned. "I want to see what else is in the world. Go to school and play Exy with you. You know, being a normal teenager." 

Andrew rolled his eyes. He shouldn't have told Neil that he joined the Columbia High Exy team. For someone who only played the game once when he was ten, Neil  _ really _ liked the game. 

"You want to go to school , that already disqualifies you from being a 'normal teenager', " Andrew said, pulling Neil who laughed when he fell into Andrew's lap. 

Neil pinched Andrew's nose and gave him a light kiss. 

"I would also like to spend more time with you," he said and instantly went red, which he tried to hide by putting his face in the curve of Andrew's neck, but Andrew saw it. 

It never got old, that thing between them. It started shortly after they saw Nathan drag Mary across the square, but Andrew only did something about it a year later, on Neil's 14th birthday. Andrew kissed him, hiding in one of the many halls on the  _ other side _ of the library. They haven't stopped since. 

"Okay. I think I can live with this burden," said Andrew and Neil laughed out loud. 

Mister Dobb was quick to return, dismissing the two, who spent the next hour kissing in one of the corridors on the  _ other side _ of the library and commenting on their last joint reading. 

Never really got old indeed.

*

Andrew came home at the same time as Tilda. 

She looked at him with furrowed brows as she approached. 

"Where the hell were you?" 

Andrew just looked at her, crossing his arms and waiting for her to react. He could tell that she thought he was Aaron, which was a good thing. That way, she could no longer deny the abuse and would be warned at the end of this little interaction.

"Look here, you little shit..." she raised her arm, probably to grab him and drag him into the house, where there would be no witness to what she was about to do, but Andrew grabbed her hand first. " _ Andrew?" _

Andrew rolled his eyes. “What an example of a mother, not recognizing her own children. Yes, I am not Aaron and I will notify you just once. ” he squeezed her arm a little more, twisting slightly backwards, not enough to break, but enough for him to make his point. “ _ You don't touch Aaron, do you  _ understand? I will not be courteous the next time. ” 

Andrew released her and went into the house, going straight to the kitchen, where he opened the fridge and took the jar of ice cream. He sat at the counter and started to eat calmly, listening to Tilda's angry steps upstairs. 

Aaron appeared a few minutes later, a deep frown on his face. 

"What did you do?" Andrew just raised an eyebrow and continued to eat. "Mom. What did you do to make her so angry? ” 

"I just kindly asked her to stop abusing you." 

Aaron went pale. 

"What? N-no, she doesn't ..."

"Oh, come on. Do you think I didn't see your bruises?" 

Hundreds of emotions passed over Aaron's face, but in the end the frown won and he crossed his arms, "Why do you care, anyway?" 

"Because you are my brother. And I wish someone had stopped  _ mine."  _

It improved a lot after he discovered the charm, of course, but he couldn't erase those that had already happened. Andrew prevented his mind from rescuing those memories, trying to focus on the sweetness of the ice cream. 

Aaron seemed to have lost the ability to speak, looking at Andrew with an expression between surprise and pity. Andrew hated it, but he didn't believe in regret, so he said nothing. 

"Do you ...  _ want to  _ be my brother?" Aaron asked, watching Andrew jump off the counter and put away the rest of the ice cream. 

"It's not a question of wanting. It's a fact." Andrew turned to Aaron, "If she raises her hand to you again, you tell me. Promise me." 

"I… I promise." 

Aaron looked stunned, as if the fact that Andrew cared about him surprised him. 

Andrew nodded and left the kitchen and Aaron behind.

*

It took two weeks. 

Aaron didn't even have to say anything. He just came over to Andrew and let him see the purple bruise on his rib. The woman probably thought that hitting him there Andrew wouldn't see it and Aaron wouldn’t tell him. Fool. Andrew now understood what Mary meant when she said that humans were arrogant little idiots.

Andrew just nodded to him and continued to get dressed for school. 

When Tilda stopped in front of the twins' school, he waited for Aaron to get out of the car to whisper in the woman's ear. " _ You will accelerate as fast as you can on an avenue full of cars and then will turn the wheel hard, causing a fatal accident. ”  _

Andrew left the car feeling tired, but it would be worth it. 

  
  


*

Then he used his charm again to get Luther Hemmick to allow Nicky to become responsible for them. Aaron saw. 

"How did you do that?" Aaron asked when they returned to the house after the funeral, Andrew closed the door to their room after checking that Nicky was not around and indicated that Aaron should sit on the bed. " _ What are _ you?" 

Andrew rolled his eyes. "Same as you, idiot. We are twins." Mr Dobb once used the term  _ doppelganger  _ to refer to them, but he never explained what it meant or spoke about it any more. Aaron blinked, opened and closed his mouth a few times, but was unable to formulate anything. Andrew felt sorry for him. “We are part fairy. On our unknown father's side, probably. ” 

"Bullshit. Fairies don't exist. ” Aaron crossed his arms and rolled his eyes.

Andrew shrugged and threw himself on his bed. "Pity." 

"Andrew."

"Uhn?." 

"Fairies?" 

"Fairies." 

"So I ... can I also convince people to do what I want?" 

"Perhaps. Maybe you have a gift of your own. ” 

"How did you find yours?" 

Aaron lay down on his own bed, in a position similar to Andrew's. 

"So do you believe me now?" 

Aaron shrugged and waited. Andrew rolled his eyes.

“One person helped me. He can help you too, if you want.”

"I want." 

"Okay, I'll take you to him tomorrow." 

"Okay." 

"Okay."

  
  


*

  
  


"So this is where you stay after school?" Aaron asks when the two entered the local Columbia library. Andrew doesn't answer, going straight to the cashier, where Mr. Dobb is with a client. Mr Dobb waves to Andrew and he nods to Aaron, who is rummaging through one of the didactic shelves. Nerd. 

When the woman leaves, Andrew grabs Aaron's arm and drags him to Lord Dobb. Andrew watches with amusement as Aaron's mouth opens as he looks at the elf. Today, Mr Dobb has black hair and a thin beard, but it is possible to see his ears and cat eyes. At least Andrew and his twin can. Lord Dobb's gift is metamorphosis, but he can change only his appearance, never his shape. When Andrew met him, he wore hair  _ green _ . Andrew wanted to dye his own hair the same color for  _ months.  _ Maybe now he could finally. He made a mental note to speak to Neil about it. 

"This is my brother, Mr Dobb," Andrew said, even though it wasn't necessary. "Aaron, this is the man I told you about." 

Aaron blinked. His mouth was still in an O. 

Mister Dobb laughed. "Did you tell him?"

"He saw me wearing the charm." Mr Dobb sighed. He always told Andrew to be careful with the charm. "It was necessary. I promise." 

"Very well," said the elf, taking a stack of books off the counter and storing it on the shelf below. Then he claps his hands together to clear the dust and leaves behind the counter. "Let's go to the  _ Bureau. _ "

_ Bureau  _ was the official name on the  _ other side.  _ Andrew refuses to use it. 

Andrew had to pull Aaron by the arm, as Andrew’s twin seemed to have lost all control of his body. When Lord Dobb crossed the wall, Aaron did a strangled sound. Andrew was not intimidated, continuing to drag his brother behind him and through the portal.

On the other side, Aaron shouted. "We went through a  _ wall!" _

Andrew rolled his eyes. Aaron went in the  _ far side,  _ his mouth open as he looked at the ceiling and the hundreds of corridors full of books. When the initial shock passed, he turned to Andrew smiling and said, "This place is  _ amazing!" _

Andrew didn't answer, busy watching Neil come down from the third floor and walk over to them. The redhead raised an eyebrow at Aaron. 

"I see you've changed your mind." 

“I was kind of obliged. He saw me use the charm. ” 

"That explains it," said Neil, assessing Aaron who was looking at the new boy with the same curious expression as when he was looking at the bookshelves. "I'm Neil." 

Aaron blinked. “Aaron. And what is this story about changing your mind? Aren't you going to tell me that we're part of the  _ fairy? ”  _

"Would you have believed me?" Andrew challenged, crossing his arms. Aaron frowned and crossed his arms too, turning his gaze back to the bookshelves. Neil laughed, putting his arm around Andrew's shoulders as they both watched Aaron's scowl fall the further he looked at the shelves.  _ Nerd. _

Mr. Dobb returned from his small office, which Andrew was only allowed to enter once during the tests the elf did to discover his gift,shortly after, and Andrew nudged Aaron and indicated the door. 

Aaron looked startled at Andrew, who did nothing but push him toward the door. "He's just going to ask you a few questions." 

Aaron swallowed, but followed the elf. 

Andrew turned to look at Neil, who kissed Andrew on the nose before walking away. They sat on one of the sofas and Andrew put his legs on Neil's lap. “I went to my uncle's house yesterday. He said I didn't have to worry about my father anymore,” he said as he took off Andrew's shoes and massaged his feet. Damn it, Andrew was so in love. 

"Does that mean you are going to start attending school?" Andrew rested his head on the arm of the sofa, lying in a lying position. 

"Yep," Neil smiled. “My uncle gave me a series of documents, which I have no idea how he managed, but that's okay, and what do I apparently need to live in the human world? So weird. My name is Neil Abram Hartford in all of them, what do you think? ” 

"It's a good name, I like it." Andrew sighed when Neil squeezed it in place. He didn't even know his feet were so tense until Neil relaxed them. "When you start?" 

"My uncle said that on Monday and that he would go with me, as my 'guardian', does that make sense to you?" 

"Totally, remember that I said that my cousin Nicky would be my guardian now?" Neil nodded. "We are minors, the Law says that we need someone to 'guard' us, anyway." 

Neil shrugged, dismissing the subject, and continued to massage Andrew's feet until Aaron and Lord Dobb returned. 

"I am a healer!" Aaron says happily and Mr Dobb laughs, ruffling his blond hair. Aaron is taking this very well in Andrew's opinion, but he will not comment. "I always wanted to be a doctor." he sighed, his eyes lost in an ideal future. 

"Hm," Andrew said, still very focused on the massage. 

"It is good to see that you are excited, child." Mr Dobb says, getting serious afterwards. “I'm sure Andrew will answer any questions you may have, but let's remember the most important one, yes? No telling humans about what you are, and what you can do.” 

Aaron nods. "I won't tell." 

"Good," the elf smiles. “I will leave you children alone now. Do not mess anything up. ” 

Neil rolls his eyes. "That is not even possible, Mr Dobb," he says to the elf, who snorts, but says nothing more and crosses the wall to the human library.

*

Andrew finds out what the term  _ doppelganger  _ means in one of his many readings. He and Neil are on the third floor, cleaning and choosing their next books when one catches Andrew's eye. 

_ DOPPELGANGER: MYTHS AND POWERS.  _

He picks up the book, which has a red cover with gold lettering, and sits with his back to the bookcase and begins to read. He discovers that identical twins in the fairy world are called  _ doppelgangers  _ and that their parents often separate them at birth, afraid of what the universe can do with two 'equal' people living in the same place. One of the babies stays in the fairy world and the other is sent to the human world.

_ "[...] Two parts of one soul,  _ doppelganger  _ have twice as much dominion over the power that nature gives us, Elemental Power, and therefore they must be separated, so that the balance is restored."  _

The book also says that  _ doppelgangers  _ are stronger together, but other than that, they pose no real danger, other than the superstition of the oldest fairies. 

Andrew wonders where his father is and if Tilda knew what he was. 

"What is Elemental Power?" he asks Mr Dobb a few days later. Neil is sleeping on one of the sofas and Aaron was exploring the  _ other side. _

"It is the power of Nature that every fairy has." he responds without looking up from the book in his lap. “The gift is unique,  _ doppelganger  _ or not. But Elemental power is a power that flows through your soul, so as you share one soul, Elemental power is the same and therefore stronger. ” 

Andrew reflects on this and then agrees. "What would the fairies do if they knew that Aaron and I are together?" 

"Oh, they already know," Mr. Dobb closes the book and moves to face Andrew. Today, he has hair golden yellow and his eyes are black. “I told them about you the instant I met you, and then about Aaron when you told about him. They were nervous about the birth of  _ doppelgangers  _ after so many years, but end up seeing it as a blessing from Nature, as She is still sharing her power with the Fairies. ” 

Andrew pretended to understand, but shrugged and nodded, pleased that no one would come to torment them just for being twins.

*

When Andrew came to Columbia, it was easy to tell the twins apart.

Aaron was thin and slim, while Andrew was chubby. Now, almost a year later and six months after Neil joined the school and convinced Andrew to join the Exy team with him, Andrew may be what some people call  _ muscular,  _ but not quite yet. He lost weight and defined his body, thanks to the mandatory hours at the gym to help with conditioning. Aaron had changed too, and now they were more alike than ever.

Andrew couldn't deny that he liked the change, not when Neil seemed fascinated by his new form. "I miss the softness in your stomach, though." he says, lying on Andrew's chest, on the sofa in the house that Nicky bought for them to live in. Andrew had put his arms around him when he spoke. 

"Don't worry, summer is coming and I'm going to eat ice cream again like there's no tomorrow," Neil raised his head to look at him and laughed, probably taking it as a joke (it wasn't, Andrew couldn't wait to  _ have time  _ to eat his precious ice cream. Nicky worked at an ice cream parlor, for God's sake) and Andrew stole a kiss, which turned into two, three, until they ended up falling off the couch and continuing to kiss on the living room floor. 

"Oh,  _ my God!" _ The two broke up when Nicky's voice startled them. Andrew lifted his head to look at his cousin, who was standing at the door, hands in his mouth and a bag dropped at his feet. He probably dropped it when he saw them. 

In retrospect, Andrew should have told Nicky about his relationship with Neil when he started attending school, but until then they hadn't done anything to reveal their dating outside  _ across  _ Andrew's room and the  _ other side _ . Aaron knew, of course, having seen them together several times on the  _ other side,  _ but he never commented on anything, so that's it.

Nicky, of course, would be another story. 

"You’re dating!" Nicky exclaims and Neil groans, hiding his face in his hands. Andrew just looks at his cousin. “Dating! I didn't even know you were gay, Andrew.” And then his cheerful expression fell. "Why didn't you tell me? Don’t you trust me?"

Andrew drew his eyebrows together. "I do," he said and it was true, Andrew realized, stunned. He trusted Nicky, he trusted Aaron. "I do, Nicky," he repeated and stood up, walking over to Nicky. He took a deep breath. "Sorry I didn't tell you."

Nicky smiles as he cries. Andrew knew that he sometimes did not think he was capable of raising them, that he was afraid he would not succeed. Hearing Andrew say he trusted him must be a relief. 

“Oh,  _ oh!  _ I need to define some rules.” he starts to wander. Andrew says 'no need', but Nicky doesn't listen, continuing. “That's what normal and healthy parents do, right? Set some rules when your kids start dating, right?” he starts pacing, one hand on his chin and a determined expression on his face. Andrew raises an eyebrow. “No closed doors, this is a common rule, right? And no sleeping here without my presence. Oh, shit, but you already slept with me outside, I suck…” 

“Nicky,  _ stop.”  _ Andrew says, not shouting, but loud enough to be heard by Nicky. Neil has his face tucked into one of the sofa cushions, trying not to make it too obvious that he's laughing. “Neil and I are fine, okay? You don't need rules. I promise to tell you if something changes.” 

He hoped it would be enough to calm Nicky down. 

It turns out it was.

Afterwards, they ate and waited for Aaron to return from the German course he was taking, because he had a hard time learning only from Nicky. When Aaron arrived, he, Neil and Andrew went out into the garden behind the house while Nicky went to call Erik and trained their Elemental powers while the adult was distracted and wouldn’t see them. 

Neil's elemental power was Fire, like most of his maternal family, with the exception of Mary, who had an empathic power. She was able to feel what others were feeling. Their intentions. Neil said that was why she didn’t like Andrew, because she knew he didn’t want to harm Neil or them, and she didn’t have a reason to push him away beyond her own paranoia, but Mister Dobb prevented her from doing something against Andrew.

The twins dominated the Air Element. 

Separated, they managed to change the course of the winds and suffocate a man. They were also able to leave a colder environment, swirl and use air to propel them. Lord Dobb said that they could even fly when they managed to completely dominate the Element. 

Together, they could form storms. Their powers together could bring rain clouds to where they were, form tornadoes. Andrew understood now why fairies found  _ doppelgangers  _ so dangerous.

They never trained their combined powers in the human world. It was very risky, but they did the little exercises that Mr Dobb ordered them to do in the garden while Neil watched Nicky. 

Then, usually on Wednesdays, Andrew took Neil to see a little of the human world. 

Neil spent ten years in the human world, Andrew knew, but he was never able to do things that ten-year-olds normally did. He had never been to the movies, to the theater, or to a concert, and Andrew made a point of giving these experiences to Neil, even though he himself didn't do these things until he moved in with Nicky. Many of Neil's early experiences were also Andrew's.

Like today. 

Andrew knew there was an amusement park just fifteen minutes from his house, so he told Nicky he was going out, grabbed a leather jacket and keys of the car he bought with Tilda's life insurance, and pulled Neil over by grabbing his sweatshirt sleeve, taking them there as fast as he could.

There weren't many people at the park when they arrived, which was a pro and a con at the same time. A con because it looked like it wouldn't be good at first glance, and a pro because there wouldn’t be any queues. 

Neil seemed delighted with the place though, looking at everything with a happy smile on his lips.

Andrew took Neil's hand in his and went from tent to tent, toy to toy, stopping only when Neil wanted to go to a toy or play a game in the tents. He even won a stuffed fox in the shooting game, which he named Jo, after Joseph. Andrew  _ definitely  _ didn't blush. 

They ate ice cream. Well, Andrew had an ice cream, Neil bought a sandwich. They sat on a stool more or less in the middle of the amusement park and did some eating and people watching. 

It was a good night. Nice.

They kissed in Andrew's car and came home shortly after two in the morning, so they kissed some more before going to sleep. 

A good night indeed.

*

Andrew was called into the principal's office after practice. Neil took off his helmet and looked at him with a question in his blue eyes, but Andrew just shrugged. Neil followed him into the locker room and the two waited until the other students, Aaron included, who was also looking at Andrew with a question on his face, went out to shower and change. 

It was the last practice of the year. It was also Andrew's last training in high school, so he shouldn't have been exactly surprised when he arrived in the principal's office and spotted the three men in suits

Andrew knew he was good at the sport, Neil said that all the time. Their coach always said that whenever Andrew made a real effort in the stupid sport, but he didn't think he was good enough to get Edgar Allan's attention. 

Neil told him about the first and only time that he had entered an Exy stadium, alongside Kevin Day and Riko Moriyama, and how his father had seemed satisfied with him for the first time in his life. He was sure Neil wouldn't want anything to do with them again, not when the Moriyamas were very close to Wesninski, even though Neil's uncle had promised he was safe from his father now. The thing was that, sometimes, Neil didn't feel safe. Old demons are slow to leave, he told Andrew, once and Andrew was not interested in going to a place where Neil would not feel safe. 

"No, thanks," he said after Coach Moriyama finished speaking. Honestly, Andrew didn't hear a word that came out of the man's mouth after 'we want you in the Ravens.'

The man did not seem to wait for a rejection, blinking a few times before realizing that Andrew had denied his 'generous and only offer.'

"Don't be ridiculous," the Japanese boy, Riko, said. He crossed his arms and his face became the typical superior debauchery face. "We are the best Class I team, you will not receive a better offer than ours."

"I'm not looking for a better offer. Now that we're talking," Andrew got to his feet, followed by the Japanese boy and his uncle, who put his hand on his shoulder and said something in Japanese. Then they left without looking back and his nose stuck up, but the other, Kevin, stayed in. Andrew turned his back on him and started to leave, but a hand on his elbow made him stop and react, punching him in the face. " _ Don't touch me."  _ Andrew snarled. 

It wasn't a hard punch, but Kevin Day rubbed his hand over his cheek as if he had. His frightened expression didn't help either. "Sorry," he said. "But you're being stupid. You have talent, your only chance to improve is being under our wings.” 

"Is bird metaphors something you usually do? Put feathers in your ears before going to sleep and forgot to take them off? I'm not interested in improving." 

"You should be more grateful. I assume I'm the first person to tell you that you're worth something." Kevin seemed genuinely to believe that. Andrew wanted to hit him again. 

"No, you're not," Andrew thought of Nicky, going to every Columbia Birds game, a white shirt with Andrew's hand-painted number in front and Aaron’s number in the back. He thought of Aaron, buying him a jar of ice cream after an especially good or bad game. He thought of Neil, saying how much he thought Andrew was amazing. "My family says that all the time. Your opinion doesn't matter to me." 

He found Neil hiding under the stadium bleachers after leaving the director's office. He was sitting on his knees and the same knees in Andrew's sweatshirt. He looked nervous. 

"Those were the Moriyamas, weren't they?" he asked when Andrew crawled to his side. "Kevin and Riko. They haven't changed much." 

"Neil," Andrew called out to him, but Neil's eyes were still distant, in the dark shadows that the bleachers casted on them and with Neil scared as he was, his hair was like pure fire, floating and burning over his head. It felt so hot when Andrew held his face in his hands, just shy enough of being able to burn, but hot enough that Andrew couldn't stand it for long. "Neil."

"What if my uncle was cheated? What if my dad is still after me?" Neil's whole face contorted. Andrew pulled his hand away when his skin heated up even more. He called Neil's name again, but he didn't seem to hear. "What if he finds me and ends up hurting you?" 

"He won't. Neil, he won't. Look at me, fire bunny." Neil blinked a few times and Andrew patiently waited for Neil to meet his gaze. "Your father is human and you are not. Aaron and I are not. You have your fire, Aaron and I are  _ doppelgangers,  _ he cannot fight against us. Aaron and I will help you if necessary. Nothing will happen to us or to you.. Do you trust me?" 

Sometimes all he needs to do is remember.

The fire in Neil's hair went out.

"I do." 

Andrew put Neil's head on his shoulder and hugged him. 

  
  


*

Two weeks later, another recruiter came in. But this time he didn't just want Andrew, but Aaron too. And Neil, but Neil was still a year too young, so he offered the scholarship to Nicky, who hadn't gone to college and a promise to return for Neil the following year. 

Two weeks later, the cousins were housed in the Fox Tower. Neil had promised he wouldn’t let the house get too dusty during the week, and Andrew knew he would probably sleep there every night, since, according to Neil himself, Andrew's bed was better than the bed he had in his little room on the  _ other side. _

When they finished tidying up their dormitory, Andrew left with the excuse of wanting to get to know the region. He walked around the Tower until Neil showed up, wearing one of Andrew's black hoodies and his hair in a ponytail. 

They passed an ice cream shop near campus before going to the local library with a ticket to the  _ other side, _ but Andrew felt that this was different from the others. Generally, all of the libraries in passage were from Mr. Dobb, but there was a woman behind the counter when they entered. 

"This is Mr Dobb's cousin, Aisha." Neil said, waving at the woman and heading towards the wall. "She said that Mr. Dobb needed to resolve something in the Fairyland and asked her to take care of it." 

Now that neither Andrew nor Neil could manage the place while Mr. Dobb left, it made sense. 

They organized some shelves and kissed for a while until Andrew had to go back to what the coach referred to as a 'team meeting.' Andrew was not exactly excited to meet new people, but Neil seemed anxious about the prospect. "So you can tell me about them, so I'll be more comfortable when it's my turn," he said, then Andrew went to the damn meeting. 

Everyone was already at the stadium when Andrew arrived. He reached for the car key and Nicky placed the ring of keys in his cousin's open palm. 

Andrew sat next to Aaron on the loveseat. 

"You found it?" Aaron asked when Andrew settled down. He just gave him a nod. "Well, I need a book from there." 

"Tell me which one and I will ask Neil." Andrew didn't hear if Aaron said anything else, preferring to watch the other members of his new team. 

Andrew already knew a lot about them, at least the information available online. He and Neil spent a lot of time researching them, partly because of Neil's anxiety that there could be someone who might know about his past in the team, and partly because Andrew wanted to have at least an idea of what to expect. He never had the luxury before. 

The captain, a woman a little taller than Andrew, with dark skin and shaved hair named Danielle Leigh Wilds, was sitting on the arm of the other loveseat across the room. She was talking quietly to the two people sitting on the couch with her, gesturing with her arms and laughing out loud. It didn't look much like a captain's posture, but Andrew and Neil had watched some of her interviews and he knew she was more than capable of the job. There was not much about her past, other than that the coach had met her at a nightclub, where she worked as a dancer. 

Beside her was a black man with black hair cut on the sides and a small smile on his face as he looked at Wilds. Matthew Donovan Boyd was his name. The son of a couple of boxers, he had participated in some unofficial fights in the past, but had given up after he had to go to rehab because of his drug addiction. Andrew didn't know if he still used it, but the way his hands were shaking slightly made Andrew realize that he wanted to. Maybe Andrew could use his charm on him. 

Next to Matthew was an Asian girl with platinum hair with colored tips. Renee Natalie Walker, the other goalkeeper besides Andrew. There wasn't much about her past online, only that she had been adopted by Stephanie Walker at age 16, but it didn't say the circumstances of said adoption. She should have had a difficult past since she had been recruited to the Foxes, but that wasn't what drew Andrew's attention to her, no; it was the blue stone in her necklace. This was a birth necklace, just like the one Andrew wore around his neck, which Neil had given him when he was first relocated after discovering the  _ other side. _ She was a fairy. 

Andrew made a mental note to speak to Neil about this before addressing it. She looked like the type of person who knew how to fight, regardless of her easy smile and small size, despite being a little taller than Andrew. Her posture showed those facts, and Andrew hoped that she could train with him. 

Beside the sofa, a couple was sitting in a single chair, with the girl sitting on the boy's lap while they kissed. 

The girl, Allison Jamaica Reynolds, was the daughter of a famous businessman, John Reynolds, but she was no longer considered family after deciding she wanted to play Exy. Andrew suspected there was more to this story. Allison was tall, blond, but her arms looked strong, probably because of the sport. In the pictures they found, she only wore high-collar clothes and Andrew, who wore armbands, knew what it was like to use something to hide marks. 

The boy with her was Seth Bryan Gordon. There was nothing about him online, only that he had two complaints to the police over street fights. He was also blond and his hair was well cut. 

There was also another pair of twins on the team. Thomas Gael Holt and Thiago Sean Holt. They were veterans and this would be their last year at Palmetto. They were Latin, not too tall, but they weren't short either. They had been abandoned by their father after their mother died. There wasn't much news about them either, but they looked at the Minyard twins with a sly smile on identical faces.

Someone clapped his hands and Andrew turned to look at David Vincent Wymack standing near the door and a woman Andrew assumed was the team nurse, based on her dress. Wymack waited for all eyes to be on him before he started to speak. 

“Okay, I’ve given you enough time to get to know the newbies, but here’s a reminder,” he took the card from the nurse. “Andrew Minyard, goalkeeper. Aaron Minyard, defender, and Nicholas Hemmick, also defender. You have already settled in the dorms. ” Aaron and Andrew nodded, "Well, now, as the season starts, Abby will evaluate each of you individually. Then, I'll decide the order and schedule for you, also individually, to visit Betsy Dobson, the psychologist. No, Holt, you can't miss it. Are we talking? Okay, after you pass Abby, meet me outside. " 

*

  
  


It took Andrew two weeks to be able to speak to Renee. 

He had observed her during that time, cataloging what she was like, her opinions. Andrew did not know if she had been raised by fairies or had already had contact with them, despite showing her birth necklace everywhere except the court. 

Andrew realized that of all the Foxes, she would be the only one he would be able to have what many people called friendship. She didn't judge anyone, not even Seth, who constantly made homophobic comments to Nicky and to one of the Holt brothers, Thomas. She just commented that it wasn't cool, trying to educate them instead of condemning them. She could talk to anyone about anything, and she always showed interest in knowing more about something she didn't know. 

Neil said it would be good for Andrew if he made a friend. Nicky and Aaron had classes in different buildings and schedules, and Andrew still eluded most of his free time to go see Neil on the  _ other side _ and despite them sharing a single dormitory, they hardly saw each other out of practice. Neil was concerned about Andrew being lonely, so Andrew agreed. As usual.

He was not good at first contact, so he left the necklace of Neil's birth on his shirt one day and waited for her to see it. If Andrew had understood her well, she would talk to him about it eventually, either to say that her necklaces look alike in case she doesn't know what, or to talk to the other fairy.

Andrew was leaving his last class the day before training when he saw her standing against the brick wall. Her light pink skirt swayed in the wind as did her hair. She smiled when she saw him, slowly and sweetly. 

"Andrew, hello," she said as soon as he reached her. He greeted her with a nod. "Do you still have any classes now?" 

"No."

"Great, I wanted to talk to you, if that's okay.” 

Andrew took out his cell phone and looked at the time. 11:25AM. Neil was at Columbia High until two, so he sent a message to Neil to find him on the _other side_ at 04:00PM and waved Renee to follow. 

Andrew walked up his car and unlocked the door and thought about his options. Aaron would still be in class, but Nicky would already be in the dorms, so they couldn't talk there. There was a chance that Renee's dorm would be free, but he didn't want to ask her that, so he drove the car toward an ice cream shop that he recently discovered, and which sold a wonderful truffled nest ice cream. 

But Renee didn't wait to get there to start talking. 

"You have a necklace from the fire," he said in an almost accusatory tone. "But you are not a fire fairy."

She didn't ask anything, but Andrew still heard her. "I'm an air fairy," he said without taking his eyes off the road. "The necklace was a gift." 

She hummed. “You must be important to this fairy, then. We are taught to never lose sight of our birth necklaces. ” Andrew knew that, of course. He heard Mary's screams when she noticed that  _ Andrew _ was the one wearing the necklace. "Why don't you use your own?" 

"I don't have one." Renee made a confused expression, then he continued, "I didn't know what I was until I was seven and it was an accident. I crossed a barrier to the fairy world."

"Oh," she said, "I heard others talking about how you were a foster child, it makes sense." she took her necklace between her fingers and started to move. "Sorry, I was impolite. But I went through something similar."

She then told Andrew about how her birth mother had sold her to a gang in order to pay off her debts, telling them that she had special powers. Her mother was human and didn't understand what she was doing, Renee said, and she grew up having to use her powers on behalf of the gang leader. Since her Gift was physical strength, she quickly became one of the most important soldiers for the Chief until Stephanie Walker and the police overthrew him.

Andrew told her about his charm and how he used it to protect Aaron, but did not tell about his childhood. This was something that only Neil knew, but he told her about not liking surprise touches or too strong ones, and she nodded, accepting it with respect. 

In the end, she agreed on teaching him how to fight. 

*

  
  
  


"Kevin Day came out of the Ravens?" Neil asked, shocked, after Andrew told him about the arrival of the Raven Number 2. Andrew, Aaron and Nicky were at the coach's house for an impromptu Thanksgiving dinner when someone knocked on the door. Wymack was the only one to get up and answer the door, returning moments later with a pale and bleeding Kevin Day, completely different from the boy who called Andrew an idiot for not accepting a place in his 'Perfect Court.'

"Yep," Andrew said, Neil looked shocked by the new turn of events, but he was also nervous, pacing back and forth on the  _ other side  _ with his arms crossed and eyebrows together. "I can hear you thinking. Spill it out."

Neil sighed and looked at Andrew's lap in a non-verbal question. Andrew nodded, so Neil sat on his side on Andrew's lap, hiding the rest between Andrew's neck and shoulder. “It's just… Kevin is going to be in the Foxes, right? And in a few months I will join the team and if he recognizes me and tells someone and ... "

"Neil, you are safe, remember? Your uncle would not lie to you." 

Neil sighed, so Andrew offered Neil his hand to play and calm down. 

Andrew knew it wasn’t so easy to forget years of fear overnight. Mary was a paranoid woman, despite being able to sense people's intentions, she trusted no one, and she made Neil promise  _ never to _ set foot in the human world. He had already improved a lot, of course, after asking his uncle for help, but there was still a lot of influence from his mother on him.

"Would you be better off talking to him?" Andrew asked, suddenly having an idea. "Kevin looked extremely scared and kept saying that Riko was going to be furious that he left and that he would come after him." Neil moved away from Andrew's neck to look at him with a frown, clearly not understanding Andrew's reasoning. Andrew put his hand on Neil's cheek. "I can offer him a deal; I will protect him from Riko and in return he doesn't tell you what he knows about your past and who you are.” 

Neil was silent for a while and if Andrew knew him well (he did), Neil was thinking about the pros and cons of that idea. Finally, he seems to have come to the conclusion that the pros were bigger. "Okay, but I want to be there and talk to him myself. Bring him here."

It was Andrew's turn to raise his eyebrows. 

Neil explained, "Kevin is a Day. The Day’s are a clan of elves from Ireland. Mom used to meet his mother, Kayleigh, while she still lived in England and before Kayleigh moved to Japan to study. Anyway, Kevin is an elf, just like Mr Dobb." 

Andrew absorbed the new information. 

"It will be easier then, with him knowing about the world of fairies and my gift." 

"Truth." Neil kissed him, "Thank you. For doing your best to keep me safe." 

"I would burn the world for you, Neil," Andrew says, holding Neil's face in his hands and touching his forehead with his own. 

Neil laughs. "That's my Element, idiot." he leans over and kisses Andrew lightly. "Now, let's finish fixing section C before Mr. Dobb comes in here."

Andrew groans, but ends up following Neil anyway. 

  
  


*

Andrew cornered Kevin in the living room of Wymack's house, where he was sleeping while Abby didn't release him to train, so he technically wasn't a Fox yet and couldn't stay in the Tower. Not that he looked like he would join the team anytime soon. The boy looked like he was going to fall apart whenever one of the Foxes got too close and he clung to Wymack like a monkey.

"I have an offer to make for you," Andrew said after breaking down the door, not giving Kevin time to react to his sudden appearance. Day was curled up on Wymack's couch and he was clutching his hand against his chest, a sheet falling over his shoulders. 

"Offer? What offer?" he asked suspiciously. Andrew could understand why he was so scared of everything, but it was still annoying to see a man of that size curl up in front of him. Of course, there was also the part of Andrew that would be happy with that if Kevin wasn't equally frightened in front of everyone. 

"I protect you from Riko and you do something to me in return. Simple as that." Andrew crosses his arms and waits. 

"You can't protect me from Riko, nobody can," he says, cringing even more, if that was possible. "Riko, he ... He has a lot of weapons up his sleeve. It's just one a matter of time before he gets tired and comes after me.” 

"Riko is human. I am not." Andrew lets the words penetrate Kevin's brain before uncrossing his arms and approaching, "Have you heard of the  _ doppelgangers?"  _ Kevin opens and closes his mouth a few times, looking shocked, but ends up nodding frantically. "I am one. Riko can't against me, do you understand me?"

"I ... I thought there were no more  _ doppelgangers." _

"As far as I know, Aaron and I are the only ones these days." Andrew says, standing in front of Kevin, so they were almost the same height. "Do we have a deal or not?" 

Kevin sighs. "We do. Thanks, Andr ..."

"I don't want your gratitude, I want your cooperation." Andrew steps away and walks towards the door. "Put on your jacket, you and I have to find someone." 

The trip to the local library was quiet, but there was a lot of tension in the car. Andrew knew that Kevin wouldn't trust him overnight, but he had accepted Andrew's protection, he should at least give a vote of confidence and not back down right away.

It was late afternoon, so there were some customers in the place. Mr Dobb was standing next to a woman near one of the bookshelves, probably helping the woman, but he spotted Andrew over his shoulder Andrew indicated the wall with the portal and waited for the elf to wave before dragging Kevin by the elbow. 

Kevin gave a surprised growl as they crossed, just like Aaron did the first time Andrew brought him here. The difference was that Kevin already knew what to expect, so Andrew didn’t understand the reason for the surprise. 

“We’re in the fairy world,” he says as he spins around and looks away  _.  _ “I’ve heard so much from this place, but I’ve never been here.”

Ah, that explains everything. 

"What is this place, exactly?" 

"Officially, it's called  _ Boreau _ ," says a voice from one of the halls. Neil, Andrew knew, was hesitating. Kevin turned so fast towards the voice that Andrew could hear his neck cracking. "Andrew likes to call it the  _ other side. _ "

"I never saw you complain," Andrew counters. Neil laughs and walks away from the shadows. He walks slowly and Andrew exerts some effort to look away from him and watch Kevin's expression. 

Kevin joins his eyebrows when he sees him, like someone who sees someone familiar, but is not sure who he is. Slowly, however, understanding comes to Kevin's face and he shouts, "Nathaniel!?" 

Neil winces at the name. "It's Neil now, but yes, it's me." 

Kevin looks like a scared duckling. More scared than before. Andrew pulls out a chair and sits down to watch their reunion. 

"What the hell ... where the hell have you been all these years?" Neil looks around, but says nothing. Kevin is slow to understand what he means. Then he turns to Andrew. "What does he have to do with our agreement?" 

"It's pretty simple, actually. Neil will be joining the Foxes next year, so you'll act like you don't know him and won't tell anyone who he really is. In return, I'll protect you." 

Kevin snorts. 

"I won't have to tell anyone. The instant Riko sets eyes on him, he'll know who he is, so you'll have a real problem." 

"I am no longer running from my father. My uncle Stuart made sure of that." 

Kevin turns to him, eyebrows drawn together, 

"Don't you know?" He asks and in the face of Neil's confused expression, he continues. "No, of course not. Your father sold you to the Master, you should be given to Riko as a way of proving your father's loyalty to the Moriyamas, and in the instant that Riko realizes who you are, he will do everything to get what he thinks is his back.”

**Author's Note:**

> comments and kudos are great! 
> 
> u can find me on Twitter (@sheskyripa)


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